Romance Languages and Literatures
May be elected as a departmental concentration program
Concentration in Romance Languages and Literatures allows students
to include more than one Romance language in a program of
study that also encourages them to discover and to make connections
between the two Romance languages and cultures that they
choose to pursue. All students should consult with a concentration
advisor to develop a program of study that best corresponds to their
interests and career plans.

Prerequisites to Concentration.
Same as those for concentrations in the individual languages:
     • FRENCH 235 for students of French
     • ITALIAN 232 or 233 for students of Italian
     • SPANISH 275 and 276 for students of Spanish

In addition, upper-level courses have the following prerequisites:
     • Two French courses FRENCH 250-99 for most French courses 300
        and above
     • ITALIAN 235 for other concentration-level Italian courses
     • Three 300-level Spanish courses for 400-level Spanish courses

Concentration Program.
A minimum of 42 credits consisting of the following:

I. A minimum of 33 credits of coursework in 2 languages (from
French, Italian, or Spanish) that meet the following qualifications:

     • only courses that would count towards the individual language
       concentrations may be used to satisfy this requirement
     • courses must be listed in Bulletin as taught in the target language
     • a minimum of 12 credits in each language
     • a minimum of 21 credits from upper-level courses (at least six
        credits in each language)
        N.b. "upper-level" means:
        300 or above in French and Italian
        400 or above in Spanish

II. A minimum of 9 additional credits, including:
     1. one course in Romance philology or linguistics
     2. one elective:
         a. a ROMLANG/ROMLING number; or
         b. another concentration-level course in French, Spanish, or
              Italian (in English or the target language)
     3. ROMLANG 498, the Senior Seminar in RLL

Part I of the requirements gives students the choice between
treating the languages more or less equally and having "primary"
and "secondary" languages.

Part II of the requirements fosters "bridges" between the two languages that are of both a practical/linguistic nature and an intellectual one.

Requirement II.1 grounds the concentration in Romance Languages
and Literatures in an understanding of the linguistic "kinship"
between Romance languages. Requirement II.2 encourages students
to explore the intellectual connections between the fields of
French and Francophone studies, Hispanic studies, and Italian studies
as well as fosters both a comparative and interdisciplinary understanding
of Romance studies. All RLL concentrators will be enrolled
in the senior seminar (Requirement II.3) during the Fall semester
of their senior year. This seminar relies on students' prior coursework
as a basis for reinforcing connections between courses in French,
Italian, and Spanish as well as offers an introduction to the methods
of Romance Studies and an exploration of potential topics for which
crossing boundaries between languages might provide productive
avenues of inquiry. A major component of the senior seminar involves
individual research projects tailored to each student's linguistic
competences.

Residence requirement: A minimum of 21 of the required 42
credits must be taken either in residence or through a study abroad
program affiliated with the University of Michigan.

Honors Concentration. Qualified students may be admitted to a
program of advanced study, leading to the degree of Bachelor of
Arts with Honors in Romance Languages and Literatures. The Curriculum
Committee in Romance Languages and Literatures expects
applicants to present evidence of superior language skills and a serious
interest in comparative research involving both of their languages
and the cultures articulated through them. Interested students
should contact the Honors advisor in Romance Languages and
Literatures toward the end of their junior year. Admission to seniorlevel
Honors work in Romance Languages and Literatures is by application
only. In addition to the application form (available on the department
website at: www.lsa.umich.edu/rll/concminors/rllhonors.html), students should
submit a copy of their transcript, a one- page statement of purpose,
and a sample essay.

The normal concentration requirements in Romance Languages and
Literatures must be completed along with the following:

1. Composition of a thesis incorporating the results of individual research,
     the minimum length being 40 pages; and
2. A discussion of the thesis and of an agreed upon set of related
    readings with the student's faculty advisor and one other faculty
    reader. Ideally. the two readers will represent the student's two
    languages.

A grade point average of at least 3.5 in all courses, as well as in all
courses taken for the concentration is required for admission and for
graduation with Honors in Romance Languages and Literatures. For
students opting to write an Honors thesis in Romance Languages
and Literatures, the senior seminar constitutes their fall term of work
on the thesis. In the winter term of their senior year, they enroll in
ROMLANG 499, the Senior Honors Course, in which they will complete
their thesis under the supervision of a faculty member whose
research interests are more closely aligned with the student's.

Teacher Certification. By taking a number of courses in each language
beyond the requirements for the concentration in Romance
Languages and Literatures, students may qualify for teaching certification
in both a major and a minor language. The exact requirements
for certification are available at the following School of Education
website: www.soe.umich.edu/secondary/courses/requirements/majorminor
Candidates for a secondary school teaching certificate should study
the general information about teaching certificate requirements,
which appears under the Teacher Certification Program in this Bulletin,
and contact the School of Education.

Advising. Appointments are scheduled at the department office,
4108 Modern Languages Building. (734) 764-5344.

Study Abroad. Concentrators in Romance Languages and Literatures
are encouraged to consider the possibility of studying abroad
for at least one of their languages, The University of Michigan jointly
sponsors study abroad programs in French, Italian, and Spanish.
Information about these programs is available at the Office of International
Programs (OIP), 1712 Chemistry Building, (734) 764-4311.
See also International Programs in this Bulletin and the department
website at: www.lsa.umich.edu/rll/studyabroad